Jonathan Eyre

Department: Music
Course: BMus (Hons) Music
Current Year of Study: 2nd
Age: 26

I was brought up in Sheffield and after leaving school at 16 I joined a local firm of Funeral Directors and soon became a fully qualified funeral director myself.

Before I applied to university I was working for an independent funeral directors in Bedfordshire and was also an Organist and Director of Music at St Paul´s Church in Bedford.

I decided to apply to do a degree in music because, despite having always had a job in church music, I had pretty much reached the peak of my musical career and needed a degree to help me progress further. I applied to 4 other universities and was made offers for them all, but I chose Sheffield because I was born here and still have family here.

Before starting my course I was worried about leaving behind a well paid job, my friends and my colleagues, but I was quick to make friends in Sheffield and also found a part time job at a local firm of undertakers so my worries were soon forgotten.

Returning to full-time study was quite strange at first as I found had more spare time and getting to grips with academic study again was quite challenging. My department have been very good, the staff are really friendly and very in touch with my needs as a mature student. The department have an `open door´ policy which has really helped as I know I can get help if ever I need it.

I have found balancing my work and academic life very easy. The first two years of my course have been fairly straight forward and my prior musical knowledge has really helped me along the way. My favourite part of the course has been the performance as it is one of my strengths.

Having a degree in music will be essential for my future career as when I finish I hope to go on to do a postgraduate Masters degree and then to work in the academic field myself.

I would highly recommend the University of Sheffield to anyone looking to advance their career – it is the best place to be! The people are friendly, the staff are more than helpful, and the social life is good too!

As a city Sheffield has everything I need for both personal and educational needs, it´s just a great place!